Nusli Wadia, an independent director on the board of Tata Motors, has written a letter to the shareholders of Tata Motors stating
Ratan Tata's pet Project Nano to be a serious drain on the automaker’s resources.
The 12 page letter, which is equally vitriolic and scathing as his last one to Tata Steel, describes how Nano, which was initially conceived to be sold at Rs. 1 lakh, has proved to be a serious drain on the financial resources of Tata Motors.
"Even at a price of Rs. 2.25 lakh, the car neither sells nor is viable as every sale of the vehicle is at a substantial loss to the company. After its commercial failure, which became evident not too long after its launch, I differed strongly in its continued operations and funding. Huge losses have been incurred over the years,” he said.
“The plan on which the investment was made was for 250,000 cars, while the production in the year 2015-16 was in the region of 20,000 cars and presently far less. The delay in the closure of Nano is a serious drain on the finances of the company, in addition it has created very negative image of the passenger vehicle business of the company,” Wadia said.
Wadia also rubbished all allegations levelled against him by the Tata Sons board.
Wadia said that he had tremendous respect for the company and expressed disappointment at Ratan Tata's role in the entire episode involving Cyrsu Mistry's ouster as Group Chairman.
